The Christmas message of peace, good will and respect for others is not just a Christian or even narrowly religious one. These timeless principles are important for nations as well as for individuals. But because American cultural and political life is controlled by a small but powerful minority with its own partisan agenda, US foreign policy has all too often been arrogant, bellicose and oppressive — with harmful long-term consequences for Americans and humanity. Due to the systematic misinformation about history and current affairs in the US many American Christians are woefully ignorant about their own religion and heritage, including basic facts about the Holy Land. Americans are encouraged to turn their backs on fellow Christians in the Holy Land, and are persuaded to instead identify with and support their oppressors.